In general, a wall-mounted washing machine has a small external size, and may be installed on the wall surface, thereby improving spatial utilization of a small and/or narrow space.
A general configuration of the wall-mounted washing machine includes a cabinet, a motor, a drum, a door, and a drain. Hereinafter, the wall-mounted washing machine is simply referred to as a washing machine.
A mounting unit for a conventional wall-mounted washing machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIGS. 1 and 2 are a front perspective view and a rear perspective view for explaining a wall-mounted washing machine in the related art. FIG. 3 is an illustrative view for explaining an example in which the wall-mounted washing machine in the related art is installed on a wall surface.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a body frame 20 is provided at a back surface or side of a washing machine 10, a cabinet 30 is at a front side of the body frame 20, and a door 40 is on or at a front side of the cabinet 30. A control unit 50 is on or at one side of the cabinet 30. Constituent elements for performing a washing process are disposed in the cabinet 30. Because the constituent elements are known, a more detailed description thereof will be omitted.
A frame edge 21 defines or is at a back surface edge of the body frame 20, and a mounting part 22 is on or in the body frame 20. A cushion and/or pad 60 is on the mounting part 22.
Meanwhile, the motor 70 and the tub 80 may be connected by a belt and one or more power transmission elements. That is, when power is generated from the motor 70, the power is transmitted to the tub 80 by the belt and power transmission element(s).
Meanwhile, a surface height of the frame edge 21 may be the same as a height of the mounting part 22.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the conventional washing machine 10 may be installed on a wall surface W. In more detail, anchor bolts 90 are installed in the wall, the body frame 20 is attached to the anchor bolts 90, and the body frame 20 is fixed to the wall surface W by fastening nuts to threaded end portions of the anchor bolts 90.
In this case, the cushion and/or pad 60 is on the mounting part 22, and the cushion and/or pad 60 is compressed by tightening the nut to the anchor bolt 90, as described above. As a result, the frame edge 21 of the body frame 20 comes into direct contact with the wall surface W.
When the washing machine 10 is installed on the wall surface W, as described above, and thereafter the washing machine 10 is operated, the washing machine 10 may vibrate while the motor 70 operates. Theoretically, the vibration may be absorbed by the cushion and/or pad 60, but in practice, whenever the frame edge 21 comes into direct contact with the wall surface, vibrations and noise may be transmitted to and/or along the wall surface W. This vibration may cause inconvenience and/or displeasure to the user, and may cause damage to the wall and/or wall surface.
Meanwhile, the wall surface W may not be completely or uniformly flat. Therefore, when the washing machine 10 is installed on the wall, a gap a may be formed, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Because of the gap a, noise and vibrations generated when operating the motor 70 and the tub 80 may be more easily transmitted to the outside (e.g., the wall).
External and/or foreign substances, moisture, or the like may enter the back surface and/or side of the washing machine 10 through the gap a. Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 2, constituent elements such as a drive wheel or pulley of the motor 70, a driven wheel or pulley of the tub 80, a belt, and the like are exposed at the back surface and/or side of the washing machine 10. These constituent elements may be exposed directly to the foreign substances or the moisture, which may cause wear and/or damage to, and eventually failure of, the washing machine 10.
A conventional wall-mounted washing machine may be disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2013-0064624 (Jun. 18, 2013).